It is well known that a leading cause of death is heart disease. One of the most serious incidences of heart disease is an ST Elevated Myocardial Infarction (STEMI), commonly known as a heart attack. Heart attacks are often, although not always, sudden and critical. Urgent medical attention is typically required for the sufferer to have a reasonable chance at survival.
Medical professionals have several ways of detecting the occurrence of a STEMI. One common method is the use of an electrocardiogram (ECG) to evaluate the heart rhythm of the patient, often at the scene where the patient is first encountered. The ECG is typically measured using some form of mobile heart monitor (e.g., a portable defibrillator or defibrillator/monitor). Modern medical devices both measure the patient's heart rhythm and automatically interpret the ECG data to perform a machine diagnosis of the patient's heart condition. Accordingly, modern medical devices are configured to automatically interpret the patient's heart rhythm to diagnose certain abnormalities, such as a STEMI. If a STEMI is indicated, the treating individual (e.g., an EMT, paramedic, or first responder) typically notifies an urgent care facility that a STEMI patient will be arriving shortly. In response, most urgent care facilities will prepare a catheterization laboratory or “cath lab” to treat the patient.
A cath lab is an examination room in a hospital or clinic with diagnostic imaging equipment used to visualize the arteries of the heart and the chambers of the heart and treat any stenosis or abnormality found. Cath labs are critically important to the effective treatment of a STEMI patient. However, they are also extremely expensive and resource-consuming to prepare for use. Activating a cath lab for a patient who is not actually experiencing a STEMI is very wasteful. Accordingly, false positive and false negative cath lab activations triggered by misinterpreted pre-hospital 12-lead ECGs cause patient harm, hospital resource waste, and customer dissatisfaction.
Improvements in the proper diagnosis of a patient experiencing STEMI or other urgent cardiac abnormalities are constantly being sought. Reducing false diagnoses of STEMI may reduce wasteful expenditures of time and resources treating a STEMI patient who is not actually experiencing STEMI.